#258: 3 Ways To Grab Buyer Attention and Land More Deals at Toy Fair
Let’s be real—Toy Fair is chaotic. Buyers are rushing from booth to booth, seeing hundreds of products. If you want them to stop, pay attention, and actually care about your toy or game, your pitch needs to do more than just explain your product—it needs to demand attention.
In this episode of Making It In The Toy Industry, I’m breaking down 3 simple strategies that will help you:
✨ Grab buyer attention in seconds (without feeling salesy)
🎉 Make your pitch an experience they won’t forget
👀 Spot buyer body cues so you know when to pivot or close the deal
These strategies come straight from industry pros Barry McLaughlin & Jason Lautenschleger—game inventors who turned quirky pitches into real shelf space at major retailers.
If you’re heading to Toy Fair and you’re serious about landing deals, this is the episode that’ll help you do it.
🎧 Tune in now and let’s make your pitch impossible to ignore.
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
🎟️ Ready to make the most of New York Toy Fair? Whether you're an inventor, buyer, or toy industry pro, this is your chance to connect, pitch, and discover the latest trends! Head over to ToyFairNY.com to get all the details, register, and plan your visit.
🐶✨ And don’t forget to check out Emotipals! Created by TCA alum Melissa, Emotipals are adorable plush pups designed to help kids express their emotions with interchangeable facial expressions. Visit Emotipals.com to see them in action and support an inspiring toy creator!
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[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to Making It in the Toy Industry, episode number 258.
[00:00:21] Azhelle Wade: Hey there, Toy People, Azhelle Wade here, and welcome back to another episode of Making It In The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by TheToyCoach.com. Toy people, New York Toy Fair is just around the corner. It kicks off March 1st. So, if you're gearing up to pitch your toy or game, this is your moment to shine.
[00:00:41] Azhelle Wade: Come prepared. But as I said in last week's episode, even the best idea won't sell itself. So for today's episode, we are going to be recapping last week's episode, which was my interview with Barry and Jason.
[00:00:55] Azhelle Wade: If you haven't listened to that episode already, you can listen to it after this episode, before this episode, any order will work just fine. Barry and Jason are the ultimate comedic pitch kings of the toy industry. Definitely you want to go back and give that a listen, but if you're in prep mode for Toy Fair and you need the quick tips to help you pitch like a pro.
[00:01:16] Azhelle Wade: This recap is packed with the essentials that you need. So Barry and Jason are creators of Game Night in a Can and OK Genius. They have mastered the art of pitching with pizzazz. From turning Toy Fair pitches into full blown performances, to using humor and creativity to land deals with Goliath Games and Play Monster.
[00:01:35] Azhelle Wade: These guys know how to stand out in a sea of booths and ideas. By the end of this episode today, you're going to learn a few things. One, how to grab buyer attention fast at New York Toy Fair. Two, how to make your pitch an experience that buyers won't forget. And three, the subtle body language cues from buyers that will tell you when to pivot or when you should be closing the deal. And again, all of these lessons are drawn from last week's interview. So if you weren't able to pull like the key action items, the key lessons from that interview, I'm hoping this episode today will help you do that.
[00:02:10] Azhelle Wade: All right. Number one, how to grab buyer attention at a toy fair fast. First impressions matter. You've got to stop buyers in their tracks. Now at Toy Fair, buyers are bombarded with pitches. What's going to happen if you're new to Toy Fair? Most likely you're going to be in the launch pad area. That launch pad area is The most packed part of toy fair because most of the people exhibiting in the lower level in the launch pad area just have booths or just have tables and because there's a lot of square footage down there.
[00:02:45] Azhelle Wade: There are a lot of tables lined up one after the other. So being in that launchpad area means if a buyer is taking six steps, they are passing one and a half, sometimes two booths or tables. So they're getting inundated on the right side and the left side with a ton of opportunities to be drawn in and pay attention to a specific product or company.
[00:03:10] Azhelle Wade: Some of those companies are going to actually be actively reaching out to the buyers, trying to show them a product or something. And other companies, you'll see people are just sitting behind their booth waiting for someone to come to them. So you do have to plan to grab someone's attention in the first 10 seconds.
[00:03:27] Azhelle Wade: And let me back up a little bit and be clear. The people walking through this trade show, they're not all buyers, but I know who's going to be most important to you are buyers, but there also might be members of the media like myself walking through the show. So keep in mind, even if someone isn't a buyer, they could potentially get you some visibility in the toy industry, which is sometimes just as valuable as getting that first sale because the media visibility could result in many sales.
[00:03:55] Azhelle Wade: Your most important thing you need to do is learn to grab attention. And ideally in the first 5 to 10 seconds. So, key lesson from Barry and Jason on this topic. During Barry and Jason's very first toy fair, they didn't just stand behind their booth waiting for buyers to approach. They made them stop. Jason even got down on one knee and proposed with his game, game night in a can, to a buyer from Uncommon Goods.
[00:04:22] Azhelle Wade: The moment was quirky and unexpected, and most importantly, it worked. So use bold prompts, humor, or an unexpected moment to stop buyers mid stride. It doesn't have to be over the top, but it should make them smile, laugh, or at the very least, pause. Now, your pitch that you walk into Toy Fair with can definitely change and evolve as the show goes on.
[00:04:47] Azhelle Wade: One example from my personal experience is at a previous Toy Fair, not New York Toy Fair, but another toy trade show. I came in with a product that was very focused around feelings, and I was pitching this product as primarily a Montessori focused product. Throughout that trade show, I also attended multiple speaking engagements and saw that there was a huge conversation going on around MESH. So many speakers were mentioning MESH. MESH stands for Mental Emotional Social Health. People in the audience would take conversations that were not about MESH and ask questions about MESH.
[00:05:25] Azhelle Wade: So as soon as I saw that I thought, you know, this product that is currently positioned by the creator as Montessori. Also lends itself well to some of the traits of MeSH products. So, when I went back the next day, I reworked my pitch to that product. Instead of inviting people to check out this new Montessori product by a brand new creator, I said, hey, have you heard of MeSH?
[00:05:50] Azhelle Wade: And they would immediately stop and say, oh yeah, of course. And I would say, well, we've got some great products here that highlight some benefits of the MeSH thinking of mental, emotional, social health. At the time, there was no specific MeSH award, but you could explain why a product would align with a MeSH concept of thinking.
[00:06:09] Azhelle Wade: And that pulled buyers in. And not only that, it actually made sales because buyers took the time to experiment with the product. And now they were already being primed by the rest of the show, explaining why mesh products are important and why consumers are looking for them. And then I kind of came to them and presented a solution to a problem that the show itself had kind of set up for them by saying.
[00:06:35] Azhelle Wade: "You need more of these mesh products, right?" The show primed them for that. And then I was able to swoop in with a solution. So I say all that to say, pay attention when you get to the show, what are the conversations going on? What are people really interested in? Is it value product? Is it craft product?
[00:06:52] Azhelle Wade: Does the product that you brought, can it be repitched? Can your pitch be reformatted in some way to fit the general conversation? Happening at that trade show. Okay. Now, the next thing you want to do is think about ways you can use bold props, humor, or an unexpected moment to stop buyers mid stride.
[00:07:13] Azhelle Wade: Now, this doesn't have to be over the top, but it should definitely make them smile or laugh, or at the very least, pause, hesitate. Like, wait, what just happened? Is fine. That's the kind of energy you want to create at the show.
[00:07:26] Azhelle Wade: Now, another bit of advice when you do stop buyers in their tracks, you've got to take the pressure off. Oftentimes, when I myself don't stop at a booth. It's because I feel a sense of desperation or heavy expectation from the person who is pitching to me. So if you are making a buyer laugh, if you are engaging them in a fun activity as a way to start your pitch, you have got to do everything in your power to make sure that your energy is one that is friendly, inviting, and engaging, and not one that is salesy.
[00:08:05] Azhelle Wade: How do you do this? Well, I'll teach you something that I do at the beginning of all of my sales calls about Toy Creators Academy. I take some time before my sales calls about Toy Creators Academy, and I read through a document that is focused on mindset. And I make sure to shift my mindset away from, "Oh, I really hope this person, joins my program because I need more people in my program.
[00:08:31] Azhelle Wade: I need to grow my business." And I shift it instead to what is this person's product and how do I feel about it? Am I excited about it? Do I think that I can help them? Do I feel like they can help the industry? And I focus my energy on that vibe. I focus my energy on. "Oh, wow, this would be such a great thing to be in the industry, or this seems like such a great person who should be part of the industry."
[00:08:56] Azhelle Wade: When I come to the call with that energy with the energy that says, you know what, whether or not we work together, I hope you join this industry.
[00:09:06] Azhelle Wade: That is ironically when people want to work with me the most. So I want you to do the same thing when a buyer is coming or someone you think might be a buyer or big media is coming. Don't get into your panic like, "Oh my gosh, I hope that they like me and they buy my products and I need this sale. Like, please, please, please."
[00:09:24] Azhelle Wade: Instead flip it and think about it as. You just want to be their friend. Like, you know what? That buyer in that tie dye shirt looks so cool. I wonder if they would just hang out with me for like two seconds because I've been here alone for a little bit. I'm a little bored. I would love to have a good laugh and you know, good camaraderie moment.
[00:09:42] Azhelle Wade: Or you see someone with a camera and you say, You know what? I'd like to brush up on my camera skills. Maybe they need some good content. What could I do for them that would make good content for them? Try to build a friendship and a light relationship and the sale will come. When you build that friendship and that light relationship, the most important thing to do from there is get some contact information, try not to push the sale when it doesn't fit itself.
[00:10:07] Azhelle Wade: I'm going to tell you another secret about sales. It is so much easier to sell to somebody when they ask you what they can buy from you. So, what does that mean? When you get a toy fair and you are being super friendly and not being salesy, if you're being friendly and you're showcasing your product and you're showcasing yourself and any part of that aligns with the buyer or the media person who's at your booth, they will ask you.
[00:10:38] Azhelle Wade: "So, tell me a little bit about your product, or do you make this?" They will prompt you to talk about the product. They will prompt you to sell them if you engage them even in a non sales way. So, there's multiple ways to go about sales, but that is one technique that I hope you try out while you're at Toy Fair this year.
[00:10:57] Azhelle Wade: All right, let's move on to our next key lesson, number two, your pitch is a performance. Make it fun. So toy buyers are seeing a lot of pitches at Toy Fair. I mean hundreds of pitches. Some of them are happening at pre planned meetings and some of them are happening impromptu as they walk down the aisles on their way to other meetings.
[00:11:17] Azhelle Wade: So the pitches that they remember are ones that make them feel something. I'm sure you've heard this quote before, people will never remember what you say, but they will remember how you make them feel. So think about how your pitches at Toy Fair make someone feel. For example, if you are a bubble company and you have a new bubble gun, I don't know, shout out to South Beach Bubbles, perhaps you are spraying bubbles all throughout the trade show and you're making people reconnect with their childhood and they're feeling fun when they walk by your booth.
[00:11:49] Azhelle Wade: Even if they're on their way to a meeting when they walk through your bubble tunnel, they're going to want to come back because they remember that feeling they had at that booth. So, key lesson from Barry and Jason from our episode last week, when pitching their game Frumpy Bumpers, where players would bump butts for points, they didn't just explain the idea to their IR reps, they demonstrated it.
[00:12:13] Azhelle Wade: Even when they were pitching virtually on Zoom, they physically got up and acted Frumpy Bumpers out. It was hilarious. It was unexpected. And it instantly showed the viewer how fun that game was. So if you're an inventor, or an entrepreneur, honestly. And you're pitching a toy or a game that has a physical element or a party vibe, do not just describe it.
[00:12:37] Azhelle Wade: Show it in action. Buyers need to feel how fun your product is, not just hear about it. And if you're thinking, "Well, Azhelle, what tends to happen at Toy Fair is people say they don't have time to play," because yes, that can happen. When people don't know how long your game will take, they will say they don't have time to play.
[00:12:58] Azhelle Wade: So you've got to prepare for that. And you can do that in two ways. Some things that people will say sometimes is, you know, it takes 30 seconds to show you how fun this game can be. Do you have 30 seconds? Or they will come prepared with another person in their booth who will, they can play the game with so that a buyer or media person can actually just get FOMO by watching all the fun.
[00:13:21] Azhelle Wade: I can't tell you how many times I will see a completely dead empty booth transform just because one set of people has come over and started engaging with the product. When there's one crowd around a booth where there's maybe a bunch of other booths that don't have a crowd. People are drawn to that crowd.
[00:13:42] Azhelle Wade: So sometimes creating a false crowd, even if you're asking your friends to stop by and create a crowd for you, can actually help draw more people in because everybody's got FOMO. Okay. Let's move on to our key lesson number three. Which I think is extremely important. This one you've got to pay attention for, and that is reading buyer body cues and knowing how to pivot when needed.
[00:14:08] Azhelle Wade: So one of the biggest mistake that I see inventors and entrepreneurs make is when they push through a pitch without reading the room. This can happen when you are tuned into that vibe of desperation. We don't want to be in the desperation vibe. We want to be in the high energy, looking for fun and friends vibe.
[00:14:32] Azhelle Wade: Because if we're in the high energy, looking for fun and friends vibe, if we start reading the room and the room is not fun and friendly, we're going to do something to make the room fun and friendly, or we're going to exit the room, right? So, key lessons from my conversation last week with Barry and Jason.
[00:14:49] Azhelle Wade: Barry and Jason said they use a method called riding the nods, a method where they pay attention to subtle cues that show when a buyer is vibing with something that they're showing, or it shows when an Inventor Relations rep is vibing with a feature that they're showing. So, what are riding the nods?
[00:15:08] Azhelle Wade: Think about it like this. If you get a slow nod or a smile from a buyer, that means they're hooked. If you get a surprised inhale or a leaning back mid pitch, you have then peaked curiosity. If you see the buyer's arms are crossed, flat expression, then it may be time to pivot or just wrap it all up. And here's the thing.
[00:15:31] Azhelle Wade: If a buyer or an inventor relations rep is not feeling your idea, do not force it. Sometimes the right product is just in front of the wrong person. Now, a pro tip for this is to go into each pitch with multiple angles. If a buyer doesn't respond to one specific feature, think about switching gears and highlighting another feature. And if they're still clearly not interested, thank them and move on and save your energy for the next pitch.
[00:16:01] Azhelle Wade: Now to further this lesson, keep in mind that sometimes identifying when a pitch is not right for a buyer and verbally saying, all right, I can see this one isn't right for you, but I think I have something else for you that I'd like to show you next month or next week, or asking them to clarify on what's most important to them right now.
[00:16:23] Azhelle Wade: Those two things can actually enhance and improve your relationship with that inventor relationship. With that inventor relations rep, more than pushing on with an idea that isn't working. So sometimes you gotta give up on the current idea, let them know you respect their time, That you want to understand their company better and that you really want to invent products, that are best fit for them, that are going to help them make more sales and be more successful. That can nurture a relationship much more than force feeding them something and wasting their time on something that they're not interested in.
[00:17:00] Azhelle Wade: So always be thinking about, okay, it's not working now, let's move forward and try to plan for our next meeting or get ready to show them the next idea. So, when you're pitching, this is a skill, and Barry and Jason have a little bit of help in this, because there's two of them, right? But for you, you've got to kind of have a dichotomy of your, your mindset here, because you're pitching, and you're active, and you're excited, but there has to be a side of your brain that's actually quiet, listening, and paying attention to those buyer body cues.
[00:17:30] Azhelle Wade: Okay, Those were the key lessons that I want you to focus on today. They will help you have a much more successful Toy Fair if you're going there to pitch a product or idea to an either an Inventor Relations rep, or a buyer that you want to pick up your product. Now before we dive into our recap of today's episode, I want to give a quick shout out to TCA er Melissa. She's a licensed therapist who's just has launched Emotipals. It's a little plush pup that makes different facial emotions with velcro facial features that come on and off. You can check it out at emotipals. com. Congratulations on your launch, Melissa. Everyone, Melissa has been in TCA for a while. And so don't feel like if you join TCA, you have to launch immediately.
[00:18:16] Azhelle Wade: You can move at your own pace. I never want people to launch with your ideas till they're perfect. And Melissa knows that every time that we meet, "I'm like, We're so close. We're almost there. I don't want to, I don't want you rushing." And she did a great job really pulling this brand together. The branding is beautiful.
[00:18:33] Azhelle Wade: The logo is fun. And the pup is super cute. Again, check it out at emotipals.com. If you're driving, all you have to remember to do is go to thetoycoach.com/258, where you'll get the links to the things I mentioned in today's episode. Okay, let's move on to our quick conclusion of this recap episode.
[00:18:52] Azhelle Wade: Number one, first impressions matter. Use humor, props, or a creative moment to stop buyers in their tracks as they walk past your booth. Two, your pitch should feel like an experience for buyers and IR reps. You want to at least get them involved in your product physically or make them laugh. Three, read the buyer body language.
[00:19:14] Azhelle Wade: You want to lean into what is exciting buyers or IR reps that you're pitching to. And you want to pivot if it looks like nothing is exciting them. All right. Let's get into your action item for this week. I want you to run a practice pitch with a friend or a family member. Uh, I've done this exercise with some women in my mastermind group, and what we actually did is we intentionally, the person who is receiving the pitch was intentionally not loving it.
[00:19:43] Azhelle Wade: So we had to respond to them not loving it. So I want you to do that with a friend or family member. You tell them like, I'm going to pitch you something, and I want you to devil's advocate just not like it. And then while they're doing that, watch their body language. Are they smiling, nodding, or zoning out?
[00:19:59] Azhelle Wade: And then try to tweak your pitch based on their reactions. When you do it, you could send me a message on Instagram and be like, oh, it went so well, Azhelle, or tag me in a story. I would love to see your practice pitches in action if you're willing to record them, because I'd love to share them on my stories as well.
[00:20:15] Azhelle Wade: Okay, toy people, That wraps up today's key lessons recap from Barry and Jason's incredible interview last week. If you missed the full interview, go back and check out episode 257. It is hilarious. It's packed with even more stories, jokes. It's just great tips and everything. So if you're heading to New York Toy Fair, I will see you there.
[00:20:34] Azhelle Wade: And remember this, it's not just what you pitch. It is how you pitch it. Buyers are busy at the show. Likely when you see them, they'll be running from one meeting to the next, but with a little creativity, humor, and some planning, you can make all the difference and make some new connections at the show, even if you don't have meetings set up in advance.
[00:20:53] Azhelle Wade: If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend and leave us a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Five stars, the best comments you can. I'd love to read your reviews on the show. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a lot of podcasts out there, so it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one.
[00:21:16] Azhelle Wade: Until next week, I'll see you later, toy people.
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